Picking Disney World Park Days

PICKING WHICH DAY TO SEE WHICH DISNEY WORLD PARK

The Disney World theme parks can be roughly predicted to have higher or lower crowds on certain days of the week compared to other days that week.

These predictions come from the combination of the overall patterns of visitation and the presence in the operating calendar of various “attractors” and “repellers”—of which the most significant are variations in operating hours and evening entertainment, and the presence or absence of Extra Magic Hours.

Note that by lower crowds, I don’t mean “no crowds” or “inconsequential crowds.” Low crowd periods, as used in this site and its crowd calendars, are low when compared to other times of the year with higher–often spectacularly higher–crowds.

That does not necessarily mean that the parks will feel uncrowded compared to your expectations, as that depends on your expectations, because low does not equal empty. Not even close…

So “Low Crowds” does not necessarily mean lower than you think they will be, or a low as you wish they were; it means lower than the other choices you have.

And even on the quietest of days, if you arrive at 11a, have a poor plan, don’t make good FastPass+ choices, and target the more popular rides, you will experience long waits. A good plan with well-chosen FastPass+, arrival at the parks well before they open, and a judicious approach to which rides you will visit first, will defeat the crowds almost every week of the year. You can find such plans in my itineraries and in my book.

But even so, there is usually some value to also making good choices on which park to visit which day, and this is particularly important during the “party season” which runs from later August through the first two-thirds of December.

GOOD AND BAD DISNEY WORLD PARK DAYS MOST OF THE YEAR

Because both shorter and longer trips typically include weekends, weekends (and Mondays) are typically the times that see the most people in the Disney World parks. Operating hours are often extended over weekends, but not necessarily in proportion to demand, so crowds can be high even during low times of the year.

Days when a park has morning Extra Magic Hours will be typically more crowded later that day than they would be without these special hours. This is because these hours disproportionately attract the ~75,000 people who are eligible for them, many of whom don’t have hoppers and thus have that as their park all day. It is particularly critical for folks not eligible for EMH—or those who are eligible but can’t get to the park well before EMH begins—to avoid such parks on days they have morning EMH.

As a result, most of the year (but not during the party season, see below):

Animal Kingdom is typically least busy on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays. It’s busiest on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays, particularly on days with morning Extra Magic Hours.

Epcot is generally least busy on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Saturdays are typically busiest with most Tuesdays and Thursdays seeing longer waits than other weekdays.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are usually best for Hollywood Studios. Sundays and Fridays typically see higher attendance.

Magic Kingdom is typically least busy on Tuesdays and Thursdays and busiest on Saturdays and Mondays

These patterns come from typical travel schedules, the typical ways people wish to order their visits to the parks, and the pull of the typical Extra Magic Hours schedule.

Traditionally, the most common pattern has visitors seeing Magic Kingdom first, and the Studios and Animal Kingdom last. The powerful impact of Flight of Passage, though, has been shifting Animal Kingdom visits to earlier in the week.

GOOD DISNEY WORLD PARK DAYS DURING THE PARTY SEASON

During weeks with highly varied show schedules and/or operating hours, the parks can show real variation in crowding across the week.

As a result, people are both “repelled” by the 6p closings and lack of evening shows, reducing crowds those days, and “attracted” to the days when the park is both open late and showing fireworks…and those days can be mobbed. During the Halloween part of this period, Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival will attract many locals to World Showcase on weekends and especially Friday and Saturday evenings, leading to (tipsy) crowds in World Showcase those nights.

The best way to handle these party season periods is to see the Magic Kingdom on days when it closes at 6p, and see its evening events on a different day, without having spent the earlier part of that day at MK except with a few select FastPass+.

Moreover, be particularly careful to avoid other parks with Extra Magic Hours on days Magic Kingdom closes at 6p, as those parks can be particularly mobbed on such days, with people repelled from MK by the 6p close and then being attracted to the park with the Extra Magic Hours.

THE JUDO OF DISNEY WORLD CROWDS

This last point is an example of how to think about crowds at Disney World.

Think about why you are drawn to Walt Disney World in general during a particular week, or to a specific park on a particular day, and whether your reasons are the same as those of the typical family with children.

If the reasons you have are also those of the typical family with children, then you will likely run into disproportionate crowds.

So as much as you can, do the opposite of the typical family–that’s the judo.

RELATED STUFF

Hey Dave! First off, I wanted to let you know how much I’ve enjoyed and appreciated the work you and Josh put into your book. It’s been my main reference as I continue to plan for my 10 yr old granddaughter and my first visit the last week of September this year. So far my plans are: Sun 9/22 – arrive at Pop Century 9am (Pool, explore resort, would love suggestions) Mon 9/23 – HS Tues 9/24 – AK Wed 9/25 – MK Thu 9/26 – EP Fri 9/27 – MK Sat 9/28 – checkout at 11am (flight departs around 2:15)

Granddaughter and I plan to take full advantage of EMH and slow down/take breaks in the parks when lines are long. I haven’t scheduled any fastpasses or dining yet as I wanted to get advice on the days we chose for the parks first.

I would do things a little differently. 9/25 will be mobbed at MK, as will 9/26 at Epcot. If you picked 9/25 at MK to see the fireworks, then I would do 9/23 instead, as 9/25 will be better at HS than 9/23 will be, and 9/23 better at MK than 9/25. 9/24 will be better at Epcot than 9/26, so flipping your AK and Epcot days would take care of that.

I think the reason we chose Monday for HS is the book suggests holding off on MK until a little later in the week. Also since the Sunday would be a non park day we could get to bed early and be at HS for 6 to try to experience Galaxy’s Edge. Even if GE is crazy, if it draws the crowds from the other attractions I’ll be happy with that.

Going November 1st-19th-right after the extra extra magic hours end- planning all the theme parks in the area- concerned the hours at Magic Kingom are so short–closing 9 pm, even on a holiday weekend with Jersey week, and only one extra magic hours evening–which is Wednesdays. 6 pm closings lots of days because of Christmas parties. We wanted to see the park at night. Do you think they will lengthen the hours at Magic Kingdom?

Todd, the early close days–which are routine this time of year–will not vary. One evening EMH is also routine. Late close nights may be extended to 10p. See this for the final hours in one of your periods last year. Since Disney introduced FastPass+ in 2014, MK hours have progressively narrowed, as FP+ enables people to see more in less time.

I just came across your website and it has honestly helped me a lot with planning my first Disney world trip. I had to change my trip from September to November. If you could help me kind of plan out what days I should visit each park I would really appreciate it! I will be there from November 17th to the 23rd. I am planning to get tickets for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party and in that week there are 4, which we wouldn’t go to the one on the 17th because we plan to arrive that day. We would either go to the one on the 19th, 21st, or 22nd. I would appreciate any advice and tips please 🙂

Hello , I have a trip to Walt Disney coming up from 9/18-9/22 we are actually going to Disney world the day of the 19th and plan on purchasing the hopper. Since our budget only allows us for 1 day at Disney and it’s our first time , do you have any tips on how we can do a little bit of everything in one day ?

So, umm, Lisa, I could not advise doing that. Seeing all the best at Disney World takes about six days, and because of how FastPass+ work, and the way lines develop, compressing that into one day doesn’t really work that well.

First, a one day ticket with a hopper is wildly expensive–adding about $65 per ticket to your costs to the ~$115 a base ticket will already cost you. Second, it takes a lot of time to get between the parks–figure about three hours of your day for that for planning purposes. Third, even with trying to book fourth and further FastPass+ you will be facing long lines at most parks after your first park. Finally, you are setting yourself up for a really long day…

If you are staying at a hotel with Extra Magic Hours privileges (all those on this page do, and only those), then doing what you are thinking becomes a little easier, as you can start your day early–but that of course makes the day even longer…

Let me know where you are staying, and what your goals for visiting all four parks would be (that is, why this thought is attractive to you)…

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